Lexus LS400 or Jaguar XJ? Barge shootout!
Discussion
Of the two, I would favour the Jaguar. I can see the appeal of the Lexus. The Lexus (for me) is a car to admire, whereas the XJ is more something I could love. The Jag is a car which elicits more of an emotional response to it in me. The Lexus are in many ways the first modern luxury car, whereas the X308 is a re-engined, re-engineered XJ40, so an old design even when new. It has character and charisma in spades though; it is personal which strong point is important to you. I don't think you would be disappointed by a good example of either.
The Daimler Super V8 is the model of Jag to go for if you can find one. They are much better finished, with better quality leather than the standard X308, and more of it. These things are personal, but I'm not particularly keen on the leather that Jaguar used on the standard X300 and X308. It isn't as nice as earlier Jags and I find it disappointing. Many people don't seem to be able to tell the difference, so maybe it is just me. The Daimler seems to have escaped the modern leather though!
The Daimler Super V8 is the model of Jag to go for if you can find one. They are much better finished, with better quality leather than the standard X308, and more of it. These things are personal, but I'm not particularly keen on the leather that Jaguar used on the standard X300 and X308. It isn't as nice as earlier Jags and I find it disappointing. Many people don't seem to be able to tell the difference, so maybe it is just me. The Daimler seems to have escaped the modern leather though!
dbdb said:
I have actually owned an XJ Jag - for a long time. They're not unreliable, nor are they fragile. Nothing goes wrong on mine, nothing falls off. It has required only routine maintenance over the last couple of decades.
Mine is a six cylinder one. They are mechanically unburstable. I am a frequent poster on Jag forums for my model (XJ40). The XJ40 forum has many members with XJ40s and X300s. They don't go wrong much, particularly considering even the youngest are all over 20 years old. Mostly they talk about rust. There are lots of posts about rust.
Lucky man, one of the few! You played the lottery and won, Lexus owners all win the lottery. I've said what I said about Jags because I've got my hands dirty on them for a living, and it was a good living because they just seem to fall apart.Mine is a six cylinder one. They are mechanically unburstable. I am a frequent poster on Jag forums for my model (XJ40). The XJ40 forum has many members with XJ40s and X300s. They don't go wrong much, particularly considering even the youngest are all over 20 years old. Mostly they talk about rust. There are lots of posts about rust.
Read my first post, if you feel you have more overall experience of both makes to correctly contradict mine, then fair enough. I've no axe to grind, just trying to point out to the op why the Lexus would be the better long term option, unless gambling is a lifestyle choice.
Heaveho said:
Lucky man, one of the few! You played the lottery and won, Lexus owners all win the lottery.
Phrases like this add more crediblity to the LS400's case. I don't expect an XJ to be unreliable because it's a Jaguar, but my home mechanic skills extend to about working on a CG125 and that's it! This car is essentially a backup for days when the bike isn't feasible, so predictable performance is a must. I don't expect either car would be the 'leave you stranded' type. If there was one thing that was a pain in the arse with my A8, it was a the fritzy, cheap electronics. I was forever chasing bugs, or wondering what glitch would appear on startup!If you want a nice looking car which feels a bit unique to bring out at weekends and generally waft about in get the Jag. If you want something to jump into on a cold morning and just deliver comfort and little worry get the Lexus.
I have sold two LS400's to customers in the last year to buyers who wanted it to use while their Jag was being fixed (both X350 owners - not X308).
I love the Jag, I really do, but wouldn't have one as my only car and wouldn't have one unless I was prepared to work on it myself a bit.
Oh and the Jag stereo is crap. Really crap.
I have sold two LS400's to customers in the last year to buyers who wanted it to use while their Jag was being fixed (both X350 owners - not X308).
I love the Jag, I really do, but wouldn't have one as my only car and wouldn't have one unless I was prepared to work on it myself a bit.
Oh and the Jag stereo is crap. Really crap.
Just to add to my own post - the XJ8 started at £34k and the Lexus was £50k in 2000 so they were in moderately different brackets. Even a fully loaded 4.0 Sov was only £43k.
One other point: if looking at a late 90's LS, all other things being equal, try and find a Mk 4. The differences are considerable.
One other point: if looking at a late 90's LS, all other things being equal, try and find a Mk 4. The differences are considerable.
confused_buyer said:
Just to add to my own post - the XJ8 started at £34k and the Lexus was £50k in 2000 so they were in moderately different brackets. Even a fully loaded 4.0 Sov was only £43k.
One other point: if looking at a late 90's LS, all other things being equal, try and find a Mk 4. The differences are considerable.
Yes, agree that the Mk 4 is the best of the 90's cars.One other point: if looking at a late 90's LS, all other things being equal, try and find a Mk 4. The differences are considerable.
I probably would have said 'Jag' before I bought a Mk4 LS400 on a whim. Great great cars, and I may be deluded, but I think they (Mk4 ones anyway) are handsome - I do look back at mine in admiration! They have a lot of offbeat character - more than I would have said before driving it.
It is all about engineering quality - the development budget was huge. A car to own and rely on, I couldn't fault it.
It is all about engineering quality - the development budget was huge. A car to own and rely on, I couldn't fault it.
confused_buyer said:
Just to add to my own post - the XJ8 started at £34k and the Lexus was £50k in 2000 so they were in moderately different brackets. Even a fully loaded 4.0 Sov was only £43k.
One other point: if looking at a late 90's LS, all other things being equal, try and find a Mk 4. The differences are considerable.
Ford took Jaguar considerably downmarket in the 1990s. That may have been because the XJ was really quite old by 2000. One other point: if looking at a late 90's LS, all other things being equal, try and find a Mk 4. The differences are considerable.
The 4 litre Sovereign (always by a country mile the biggest selling model) in XJ40 form was £35,500 before extras in 1990. At that time the LS400 was £34,250, again before options - so virtually the same price.
Notwithstanding its relatively higher price, the XJ40 outsold the X308 considerably. Clearly a replacement was overdue.
Heaveho said:
dbdb said:
I have actually owned an XJ Jag - for a long time. They're not unreliable, nor are they fragile. Nothing goes wrong on mine, nothing falls off. It has required only routine maintenance over the last couple of decades.
Mine is a six cylinder one. They are mechanically unburstable. I am a frequent poster on Jag forums for my model (XJ40). The XJ40 forum has many members with XJ40s and X300s. They don't go wrong much, particularly considering even the youngest are all over 20 years old. Mostly they talk about rust. There are lots of posts about rust.
Lucky man, one of the few! You played the lottery and won, Lexus owners all win the lottery. I've said what I said about Jags because I've got my hands dirty on them for a living, and it was a good living because they just seem to fall apart.Mine is a six cylinder one. They are mechanically unburstable. I am a frequent poster on Jag forums for my model (XJ40). The XJ40 forum has many members with XJ40s and X300s. They don't go wrong much, particularly considering even the youngest are all over 20 years old. Mostly they talk about rust. There are lots of posts about rust.
Read my first post, if you feel you have more overall experience of both makes to correctly contradict mine, then fair enough. I've no axe to grind, just trying to point out to the op why the Lexus would be the better long term option, unless gambling is a lifestyle choice.
OP, have you tried posting the question, "is the X300/308 reliable? - Can I use as an every day car?" in the Jaguar section? I imagine plenty of people there will have owned one.
If no one replies, then you will know that my experience with Jags being reliable is unique and everyone is parked bonnet up by the motorway with steam hissing everywhere!!
Edited by dbdb on Thursday 10th July 17:59
dbdb said:
The V8 must be considerably less reliable than the six cylinder cars then. To be stranded by a six cylinder car is really quite rare in my experience and from that of other owners I know. BTW, I'm not sure why I need to have owned both makes; I don't dispute that the Lexus LS is reliable and well made.
OP, have you tried posting the question, "is the X300/308 reliable? - Can I use as an every day car?" in the Jaguar section? I imagine plenty of people there will have owned one.
If no one replies, then you will know that my experience with Jags being reliable is unique and everyone is parked bonnet up by the motorway with steam hissing everywhere!!
Only Jag that gave me problems was my SIII, coming back from a weekend in Oxford the viscous fan decided to part company on the M40, I still managed to nurse it home under its own steam (literally OP, have you tried posting the question, "is the X300/308 reliable? - Can I use as an every day car?" in the Jaguar section? I imagine plenty of people there will have owned one.
If no one replies, then you will know that my experience with Jags being reliable is unique and everyone is parked bonnet up by the motorway with steam hissing everywhere!!
))Didn't I start this thread 6 months ago...?
£1k barges - LS400, XJ8 or something else?
By way of conclusion, I looked at an LS400, slept on it for a few days (not literally, that would be uncomfortable), rang up to make a sensible offer but it had been sold in the meantime.
Next month I was offered an S-type 4.0 from someone I knew, paid £900 for it, then it blew up about a month later when it was discovered there was almost no oil in it. My fault for not checking.
So I traded it in as scrap to a dealer, and paid £400 to 'upgrade' to a fully functional 1998 X308 XJ8, which recently took our party to LM and back without fuss.
Just this week passed its MOT but will have to be moved on soon as new personal circumstances mean my mileage will get hefty from September and I need something a bit less juicy - this is getting low 20s mpg on average which just won't be feasible.
£1k barges - LS400, XJ8 or something else?
By way of conclusion, I looked at an LS400, slept on it for a few days (not literally, that would be uncomfortable), rang up to make a sensible offer but it had been sold in the meantime.
Next month I was offered an S-type 4.0 from someone I knew, paid £900 for it, then it blew up about a month later when it was discovered there was almost no oil in it. My fault for not checking.
So I traded it in as scrap to a dealer, and paid £400 to 'upgrade' to a fully functional 1998 X308 XJ8, which recently took our party to LM and back without fuss.
Just this week passed its MOT but will have to be moved on soon as new personal circumstances mean my mileage will get hefty from September and I need something a bit less juicy - this is getting low 20s mpg on average which just won't be feasible.
I'd get the lexus. Such a well built lovely place to be. The jag is definitely the nicer looking car but when you're sat in it you can't see it, but you do have a lot of time to appreciate build quality.
Honda Legends never seem to get mentioned. I had them down as a similarly luxorious place to be, am I wrong or are they not a competitor?
Honda Legends never seem to get mentioned. I had them down as a similarly luxorious place to be, am I wrong or are they not a competitor?
Lexus is leagues ahead in terms of build quality/reliability
It depends what you want... dependability or character
Personally... I would get the lexus and introduce my own character
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AsWG41Bc_k
It depends what you want... dependability or character
Personally... I would get the lexus and introduce my own character
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AsWG41Bc_k
Synchromesh said:
Didn't I start this thread 6 months ago...?
£1k barges - LS400, XJ8 or something else?
By way of conclusion, I looked at an LS400, slept on it for a few days (not literally, that would be uncomfortable), rang up to make a sensible offer but it had been sold in the meantime.
Next month I was offered an S-type 4.0 from someone I knew, paid £900 for it, then it blew up about a month later when it was discovered there was almost no oil in it. My fault for not checking.
So I traded it in as scrap to a dealer, and paid £400 to 'upgrade' to a fully functional 1998 X308 XJ8, which recently took our party to LM and back without fuss.
Just this week passed its MOT but will have to be moved on soon as new personal circumstances mean my mileage will get hefty from September and I need something a bit less juicy - this is getting low 20s mpg on average which just won't be feasible.
Yes, your choices are much the same as mine. Though I'd have skipped the S-Type, even at £900. I've never reconciled those dire looks with their affordability, and the pre-facelift interior with that urinal console was a bit iffy. Even when I was doing a lot of miles in my car and having silly ideas about that 2.7 diesel engine they did!£1k barges - LS400, XJ8 or something else?
By way of conclusion, I looked at an LS400, slept on it for a few days (not literally, that would be uncomfortable), rang up to make a sensible offer but it had been sold in the meantime.
Next month I was offered an S-type 4.0 from someone I knew, paid £900 for it, then it blew up about a month later when it was discovered there was almost no oil in it. My fault for not checking.
So I traded it in as scrap to a dealer, and paid £400 to 'upgrade' to a fully functional 1998 X308 XJ8, which recently took our party to LM and back without fuss.
Just this week passed its MOT but will have to be moved on soon as new personal circumstances mean my mileage will get hefty from September and I need something a bit less juicy - this is getting low 20s mpg on average which just won't be feasible.
One thing I loved in the Lexus was that fold down lid over the CD changer, above the glovebox. It's a car full of neat little touches like that.
But I think it may be the seat that decides it! I'm always drawn back to the car seat as being the most important single component in the overall ownership experience. Nothing beats the feeling of flopping onto a luxurious leather pew at the end of a hard day's work, especially when it's f
king freezing outside. dbdb said:
The V8 must be considerably less reliable than the six cylinder cars then. To be stranded by a six cylinder car is really quite rare in my experience and from that of other owners I know.
Actually, they do have more generic problems. Coil packs, throttle bodies & timing chains on earlier cars are all common failures but the most common is the gearbox which seems significantly less reliable. Edited by dbdb on Thursday 10th July 17:59
Two things kill most X308's: MOT failure due to rust or the dreaded "Gearbox Fault" message in dash with yellow light one morning and the 'box in limp mode needing a £1800 rebuild.
I'd probably go for the Lexus. Ok, it's not quite as opulent as the Lexus, but if you want a motorcycle as a toy then constantly shelling out on some flakey Jag would get tiresome pretty soon I bet. On the other hand, apart from the fuel costs, I can't see the Lexus being terribly expensive to run. Get the reliable one that throws less bills, getting into performance motorcycling isn't cheap.
Xtriple129 said:
Now that I'm a cripple
......
I really want a Lexus
......
I really want a Lexus
Get the Jag. I miss mine. When I had my XJ40, then my X300, I'd turn up at events and parties and my friends would ask 'Did you come here in the Jag?', like it was a family friend. I don't get that with my BMW and I doubt it would happen with a Lexus. As for 'bork', if you're buying an old exec car you should be ready for some bills. Otherwise, get down to the local dealership and get HP on a new Eurobox.
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